Sonic the Hedgehog and the Ultimate Emerald
by theSTHguy
Summary: This is the first book I wrote about the 'Blue Blur'. Want to know what the Ultimate Emerald is? Read on a few chapters to find out! Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. All characters Copyright Sega and Sonic Team
1. A New Dawn, A New Day

Chapter 1 - A New Dawn, A New Day

As the sun rose from beyond the hills, Sonic arose from his slumber; eyes heavy with sleep. His movements sluggish, compared to his normal self, his fatigue dominating his every waking moment.

As Sonic made his way to the freshwaters of the nearby lake, his companion Tails flew by and landed next to him – like a falcon perching itself on its master's hand.

"Hey Sonic" said Tails, "plan on doing anything today?" "Nope. Not today Tails" Sonic replied, "today is gonna be one of those rare days with no Eggman, no Metal Sonic… no nothin'. For once, I'm gonna be able to sit back, relax, and forget about everything." He let out a deep sigh and drank plentifully from the lake's crystal-clear water with his white, gloved hands. Tails joined him - copying his every move as he normally does so - idolising his hero.

Some time later, Sonic decided that he wanted some time alone with his thoughts. So he decided to take a quick dash around the island. By the time he was gone, Tails had no idea that Sonic wasn't even there anymore!

When Sonic arrived at a clearing, there was a strange humming sound. 'What could that be?' he thought to himself. Then there was a big grey dot covering the sun. 'Oh, great! Eggman! What does _he_ want?!' Sonic thought sarcastically, with disappointment. When the Eggmobile descended to the ground, the door opened and Eggman stepped out and bobbed up and down, cackling his usual "HO HO HO!" They both stood there, assuming their usual positions when they're always head to head – facing each other with a solid stare.

Sonic sighed deeply, with a morose aura. "So Eggman, usual plans, eh?" "Why indeed my dear hedgehog," he said with a strong evilness, "how did you know?!"

"Oh, I don't know" Sonic said sarcastically, "you've only tried to rule the world, like, a million times (!) When do you ever change to something new?" "Why you little!" Eggman said quickly with annoyance and frustration. He pressed a button on his remote control, firing a laser at Sonic from the Eggmobile. But, as usual, Sonic, knowing Eggman, quickly side-stepped out of its path. "GRR!" Eggman retorted, throwing the remote control to the ground "I have no time for this! I must continue with my plan!" "What plan?" asked Sonic, knowing that Eggman would divulge his plan. "Well, I have built a laser cannon - capable of destroying the entire world. The debris from the explosion would be so powerful, that it would destroy the moon as well! HO HO HO HO!!" Eggman laughed and cackled, bobbing up and down in his usual fashion. Then, he took on a look of despair. "Although… there is one slight problem with this brilliant scheme." "What's that then?" enquired Sonic, intrigued to know what Eggman's downfall; although he could probably guess – 'Chaos Emeralds' he though, mimicking Eggman. "I require all the Chaos Emeralds to power the laser cannon and the satellite from which it's to be mounted on." "So, are you off to find them now?" "You learn fast hedgehog! Now, if you'll excuse me…" After finishing his speech, Eggman clambered into his Eggmobile and set off.

Sonic raced back to Tails with lightning speed. "Tails!" he called out, "Tails! Where are you?" "I'm in the plane shed." Sonic hurried as fast as he could. "Tails, Eggman is up to his old tricks again! He's built a laser cannon - capable of destroying the world. We need to get all the Chaos Emeralds to stop him!"

"What are we gonna do, Sonic?" asked Tails. "We're gonna go and collect those Emeralds, and I think I know someone who has some" Sonic replied. "So, are we gonna use the Tornado III to find them?" enquired a fascinated Tails. "Exactly! I'll go and get us some supplies. Be back in a minute!"

By the time that Sonic had returned, Tails was preparing the Tornado III for take off. Tails was putting on his helmet and goggles, while Sonic assumed his position at the centre of the roof above him.

"You ready, Sonic?" enquired Tails. "You bet!" replied Sonic, with an excited tone.

'Final Check Sequence'… 'Skies are clear for take off'…

'In 3… 2… 1…' And with that, they were off into the bright blue sky of midday.

Unbeknownst to them, someone was watching them from a nearby bush. "Hmm… I wonder where those two are going?" said the voice. The only clue to its identity was a slither of red visible through a small gap.

As they flew further into the mid-afternoon day, Tails asked Sonic a question - with an air of confusion. "Sonic?" "Yeh Tails." "Where are we going again?" "To see Shadow. I need to ask him something. He was last seen at the Green Hill Zone, so we're going there to check it out!"


	2. Chaos and Master

Chapter 2 - Chaos and Master

As Sonic and Tails came to land, there was a very strong gust from the right - suddenly appearing out of nowhere. "Hang on Sonic!" Tails yelled over the gust, "I'm gonna try to land it on that piece of straight." The landing conditions were very tricky indeed. The plane was around 20 feet from the ground when a strong wind came in from the left. "ARRRGH!" Then there was an almighty crash! The Tornado III had landed in the nearby hedges with its left wing split and bent, forcing the plane to lean upwards.

"TAILS! TAILS! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Sonic declared! Sonic's mind was spinning with various thoughts: Where was Tails? Was he hurt? What happened? There was no answer… "TAILS!!" Sonic repeated. Then, there was a faint voice "Yeh, I'm fine." "Tails?!" Sonic said, subdued, "where are you?" "I'm by the palm tree." Sonic raced to him at the speed of light. "Oh, there you are!" said Sonic, with huge relief. "What happened, buddy?" he asked. "I don't know" replied Tails, "there was there a strong gust, and then I crashed into the hedge."… "Hey!" said Tails, prevalent with anger, "where were _you_ when the Tornado crashed?" Sonic was taken by surprise. Never before has Tails asked him something so full of rage. "Before we hit the ground" he replied, slightly stammering, "I jumped off and landed into that flower bed" pointing to it as he said this. Tails' anger was showing in his face, but he said nothing. "Let's not fight, Tails." Sonic said compassionately, "It wasn't your fault, OK. Anyway, what about you? Are you alright?" "Yeh, I'm fine. Luckily the roof fell in front of me to protect me from the debris. I'm not sure about the Tornado though… looks pretty damaged." They both looked at the Tornado morosely, inspecting the damage caused by the event. "Do you think you can fix it?" enquired Sonic. "Yeh, I think so - but it may take a while."

While Tails busied himself repairing the Tornado with his box of tools, Sonic decided to investigate the nearby area. He wandered around for a while, when he suddenly saw a bright light appear directly in front of him.

When the light faded, Shadow appeared - with a deep red glow in his eyes. "Where did you come from!" he said with an intense fury. "Whoa Shadow, you don't change much do you! Chill out, will ya?" "Sorry, I'm just so annoyed!" he growled. "At what?" "Rouge." Sonic stood there, looking bemused. Shadow knew that Sonic didn't understand. He shook his head, looking at the floor. And with a deep sigh, he explained. "I was walking near the beach when I heard a voice, so I looked round - it was Rouge. So I asked her what she wanted. She said "Hey Shadow, you wanna come treasure hunting with me?" So I said "No thanks. I'm busy." And that was the end of that… Oh no! She kept following me, asking the same thing over and over again!" Shadow imitated Rouge while he repeated her question. "She just kept going on and on and… I had to do something to get out of there. So, in a fit of rage, I shouted "I wish I had CHAOS CONTROL!!" and by some miracle… I ended up here at this very spot."

Everyone stood facing each other in a perfect triangle. Silence. The sound of the wind rustling the leaves of the palm trees was the only thing to break the stillness of the summery afternoon.

Eventually, Sonic was the one to break the quiet. "Shadow. I need to ask you something: Do you have any Chaos Emeralds?" he said with an aura of unease. "That's a bit of an odd question, very profound for you, Sonic. Why do you ask?" Shadow replied "I need to gather all of the Chaos Emeralds because Eggman has another plan to rule the world" Sonic said, determined to get an emerald.

"What's he up to this time (?)" Shadow asked, letting out a big sigh. "He plans to destroy the world with his new laser cannon, and he needs all the Chaos Emeralds to power it." "Sorry Sonic, I don't have any." "But how did you get here? You can't use Chaos Control without any Chaos Emeralds." "So that explains it!" Shadow said, thinking 'It all makes sense now!' "Explains what?" enquired Sonic, confused. "How I got here! There must have been a Chaos Emerald nearby. Yes! There was a short palm tree… so it must have been in there!"

Suddenly, a piece of paper fell from the sky. Sonic picked it up and read from it. It said '… If the Chaos Emeralds are unable to power the laser, take the Master Emerald and harness its energy into the battery cells.' Sonic looked baffled, with one eyebrow raised high and the other low. "Does Eggman know about this?" Sonic said "I don't know" Tails piped up, "but if he does, we better collect all of the Chaos Emeralds… and fast! We'd better tell Knuckles about this too!"

On Angel Island, Knuckles, Guardian of the Master Emerald, was sitting at the Emerald Shrine basking in the sunshine, in the skies above the clouds, minding his own business. The skies were blue, the birds were singing, all was quiet and peaceful. Then, by some miraculous miracle, Chaos 0 somehow managed to slip out from a tiny gap under the Master Emerald. When Knuckles heard something, he turned around to examine inside the Shrine when… he saw Chaos walking towards him, with the Master Emerald still there. Knuckles was in two states of mind: fear and confusion; his fear lead him to promptly stand and put up his fists, with his sharp, pointy knuckles facing towards Chaos' visible brain. "Chaos!" Knuckles said, full of dread, "Don't make me have to fight you, OK? I don't really want to do that!"

"I'm not here to fight or cause destruction." Chaos replied, in a somewhat calming manner. "I'm just here to view this glorious day." Now Knuckles' confusion overwhelmed his soul. A question was bearing down his mind – he had to ask it. "Chaos, how did you get out from underneath the Master Emerald? I thought that you can't get out until the Master Emerald was gone." Then Knuckles thought 'I'm so confused.' Chaos replied, with sincerity "There was a small gap, so I managed to squeeze myself through and well… here I am!" The two of them were staring out to the far distance, admiring the view. They both walked towards the top step of the shrine and sat down. Then Knuckles asked a very profound question, something that no-one has ever known him to say such a thing before. Knuckles spoke his question, with gentle honesty. He said "Isn't that the most picturesque thing you've ever seen in your whole life, Chaos?" "It is. I remember it before I was sealed in the Master Emerald. It hasn't changed for thousands of years. Even when Dr Eggman shattered the Emerald, releasing me, some years back, it still remained the same." They gazed towards the surrounding area, viewing the idyllic forest and all behind it.

"Chaos?" asked Knuckles. "Yes, Knuckles?" he replied. "What's that?" Knuckles answered, pointing up to the sky. "I don't know. Could be anything." Their question was answered. The 'object' in the sky was in fact Eggman. He landed his Eggmobile on the other side of the steps where Chaos and Knuckles were sitting. "Well, what have we here?" Eggman said, stepping out of his Eggmobile. "A little get together and I wasn't invited?" "Knock it off, Eggman!" Knuckles retorted, "What do you want here?" Chaos stood up and spoke up. "Yeh, Eggman. What's your purpose?" "What?!" Eggman replied "Can't an old friend pass by and say 'hello'?" "Not you!" Knuckles said, angrily. "Go away now or you'll regret it" he said, shaking one fist.

"Oh, alright! I'll go." Eggman said, dejectedly. Then, he pulled up his sleeve and spoke into his watch. "Deploy the 'Emerald Grabber'!"

There was a loud grumbling sound coming from above the Emerald Shrine. Knuckles and Chaos turned around to investigate. What they saw next was a great shock to both of them. Metal Sonic was in another Eggmobile, which was specially equipped with an arcade game-type grabber. Metal Sonic lowered the grabber - breaking through the roof of the shrine. He then pressed a button on the control panel, with his sharp, metallic, pointy finger – making the grabber take a hold of the Master Emerald. Then he pressed another button, raising the grabber with the Master Emerald in it. Throughout this, Metal Sonic said nothing; he just stared at all below him, with his deep, glowing red eyes. When the grabber was fully reeled in, Eggman hopped back in his Eggmobile and laughed. "HO HO HO!" Both Eggman and Metal Sonic were both side-by-side above the Emerald Shrine, when Eggman said "You do make it too easy Knuckles (!)" he said scornfully; and they were just about to make their escape, when Chaos intervened by punching Metal Sonic's Eggmobile with his left arm, jostling it. This failed to release the Master Emerald from its grip. Chaos tried again with his right arm… but failed again. Finally, in a fit of rage and fury, he picked up Knuckles and threw him at the Eggmobile, and he managed to latch onto the Master Emerald.

The proverb goes 'Lightning doesn't strike twice'… oh yes it does! Exactly like last time, when this happened before a few years back, tentacles came out of the Eggmobile and attached themselves onto to Knuckles. Then, they electrocuted him – prising him off the Master Emerald; and he fell to the ground.


	3. Beyond the unknown Beyond

Chapter 3 - Beyond the unknown Beyond

"Knuckles? Knuckles? Are you OK?" A voice spoke. Knuckles slowly opened his eyes, to see Chaos with one hand on his shoulder. "Wha… what happened?" he asked, confused. "Metal Sonic electrocuted you with those tentacle things." "Ah! Not again!" Knuckles retorted. "That happened to me last time! So, what happened afterwards? Did they get away?" "I'm afraid so." Chaos replied, with sorrow. Knuckles threw his fist to the ground, saying "ARGH!" "Which way did they go?" Knuckles asked. "I don't know, I didn't see" replied a solemn Chaos. Knuckles tried to brighten the mood by speaking with a lively tone. "Well, what are we waiting for? We gotta go after Eggman and get the Master Emerald back!"

They were just about to set off, when a bright light shone in front of them. The force of it was so strong, that it knocked both Chaos and Knuckles down to the ground. When the light faded, Sonic, Shadow and Tails all stood in a line facing them – who were still lying on the ground. Sonic was the first to speak from the trio. "Hey Knuckles. Enjoying your sunbathing, are we?!" Knuckles got up abruptly, while Chaos took a more leisurely approach. Knuckles retorted to Sonic: "Knock it off, Sonic! I weren't sunbathing! You lot coming from Chaos Control knocked me and Chaos to the ground!"

Tails was the second to speak from the trio. "Bad news Knuckles. Eggman plans to steal the Master…" But before Tails could finish, Knuckles said: "Yeh, yeh. We know" and pointed to the Emerald Shrine – wrecked by Metal Sonic. "He beat ya to it. Sorry, guys." "Where did they go?" enquired Sonic. "We don't know" said Chaos, downheartedly.

Then, another piece of paper fell from the sky. The final member of the trio, Shadow, looked at it. He observed it and said: "It's a map showing Eggman's secret hiding place." He pointed to the handwritten '**_X_**' on the map. Shadow stated: "That's just a few miles near here." He then showed it to everyone. "Well, what are we waiting for?! Let's go!" proclaimed Sonic. "Tails. Is the Tornado ready?" he enquired. "Almost!" called back Tails. "Wait a minute!" exclaimed Shadow, "how are we all gonna fit in that plane of yours?!" "We ain't goin' in the _plane_!" replied a proud Sonic, "the Tornado III is also a robot, capable of carrying all five of us in it!" Sonic said, as the Tornado III did so. "Alright then! Shall we?" said Shadow, excited at the thought. "You all set, Tails?" asked an eager Sonic. "Yep!" replied an equally eager Tails. "Hop in, everybody!" he called out. Everyone was in the Tornado, ready to set off to reclaim the Master Emerald.

Some time later, they arrived at their destination. Sonic was the first to disembark, closely followed by Tails. Knuckles and Chaos were next; and finally… Shadow.

Eggman's secret hiding place was on top of a very steep hill. The path kept winding around it. To everyone, it seemed never ending; cobble after cobble after cobble. The same thought coursed everyone's mind: 'Will we ever get there?!' Eventually they arrived at a doorway, shaped like Eggman: his big moustache, his bald head, and his large body. "Hmph! No-one would know that Eggman lives here (!)" Sonic said sarcastically, trying to brighten up the mood. To the left of the door was a speaker and a keypad. Tails pressed a button with 'open' written on it. A voice from the speaker said "HA HA! Wrong button!" Then… a trap door opened. Everyone let out a great "ARRGH!" A great 'thud!' followed.

When the dust settled everyone groaned in pain, massaging their aches. "Tails, you idiot!" Shadow mumbled under his breath. Other remarks arose from the group, indistinct. "Hey, is everyone alright?" asked Knuckles. "Yeh, I'm fine" Sonic replied, rubbing his head. Similar comments came from the party. "Right. Shall we get going then?" said Chaos.

As they continued down the stone tunnel, the echoing footsteps and the scuttling of insects were the only sounds prevalent. Tails was at the front of the group, carrying a torch – being the only source of light.

Eventually they approached a wooden door, all rotten and dark in colour. There was a sign next to it that said 'Secret entrance to Mt Eggman'. At first, everyone stood facing the door, questioning whether to open it or not in case it was another trap door. In the end, Chaos decided to 'bite the bullet' and opened the door. To everyone's surprise, this was the genuine thing. The walls were now metallic with flashing lights and dials. Then, yet another door… this time made of reinforced steel with a keypad and two lights – red and green. Tails let out a deep sigh. "It's the same ol' code every time" he said with boredom. He typed it in – that no-one knows, except Eggman and himself – and the green light shone. The door opened with a loud, heavy metallic clunking. Then, they were greeted to a massive shock – the Master Emerald was trapped inside a giant tube, with all of its energies being sucked out of it. These energies were then being transferred, though a metal tube – to Eggman's laser cannon and its rocket. Standing next to the laser cannon was Metal Sonic – his back turned, facing the window.

"How are we supposed to get the Master Emerald without Metal Sonic knowing?" asked Knuckles. "Those lasers will be hard to beat as well" he said, pointing to the laser beams surrounding the Master Emerald. "I can see a switch that will turn off the beams" Tails said. "If only I could…" Then, he saw a loose screw on the floor. "I'll try to get this screw to hit that switch." Tails looked at the switch, carefully calculating its trajectory, angle, etc. in his mind. This took him a couple of minutes, by which time Shadow nearly dosed off. Finally, Tails was ready. He threw the screw with all his precise might. If flew across the air, like an owl swooping on its prey. The screw successfully hit the switch, turning the lasers off in a flash. "Look! Metal Sonic hasn't even noticed!" Shadow said with surprise. Then, Knuckles got up and slowly crept towards the tube. "Knuckles, wait!" Sonic whispered loudly. "You can't get the Master Emerald because you need to open the tube first." "Well how do I do that?!" asked Knuckles, annoyed. "Push that button with the green down-arrow" Tails suggested. Knuckles did just that – it worked. The tube opened and the Master Emerald stood on its plinth. Knuckles retrieved the Master Emerald and quickly returned to the group. "Let's go!" he said, in a rush. Suddenly, Metal Sonic turned around and realised what had happened.

(Visual) Master Emerald – gone; Sonic, Shadow, Tails, Chaos, Knuckles with Master Emerald – escaping!  
(Order) Reclaim Master Emerald; destroy all!

Metal Sonic chased after the group all the way to where the trap door was. "Oh, great! What do we do now!" proclaimed Shadow. "I'll fly out and find us some makeshift rope" said Tails. He was back quickly with some vine. "Grab on, guys" Tails called out. He lowered the vine and held on tight. Typically, Shadow was the first to escape, swiftly followed by Chaos. Knuckles was the next, followed rapidly by Sonic.

Before Metal Sonic had a chance to climb up the vine, Tails speedily swiped the vine away and discarded it; Sonic then pulled the trap door up to entrap Metal Sonic.

The party were walking back toward the Tornado III when Knuckles piped up: "Well, I'm glad we got the Master Emerald back!" he said with delight, "we don't have to worry about Eggman's laser cannon anymore!" Suddenly, out of the blue, and for the third time in this story, a bright shimmer of light appeared in front of the group. When the light faded, an unusual guest appeared. It was Silver, with a note in his left hand. Everyone was facing each other, staring solidly.


	4. The Ultimate Shrine

Chapter 4 - The Ultimate Shrine

As the stare continued, the breeze rustled the palm tree leaves, the note, and all of the hedgehogs' quills.

"Hey, Silver. Long time, no see" said Sonic. "What brings you here?" During this, Shadow thought to himself: 'Oh, great… Silver! As if one other inferior hedgehog was enough. Now I have to be stuck with another (!) Why can't I be the only hedgehog…' His train of thought was interrupted by Sonic. "… Right Shadow? Shadow. Shadow!" he said. "Uh?!" Shadow replied, dazed. "Did you hear what I just said?" "Uh… Yeh! Yeh." Shadow replied abruptly. "You didn't, did you (?!)" said Sonic, thinking 'typical Shadow (!)' "No! So! Why should I care?!" Shadow retorted. Sonic sighed. "Silver was basically talking about old times and how you went crazy once!" Silver and Sonic chuckled. "No I didn't!" Shadow yelled, looming over them, "that only happened because I was frenzied about… well you know" said Shadow, the last three words sounding mellow. "Yeh, we know!" they both replied simultaneously, still snickering.

After the gentle wind breezed by again, Tails asked the question that was bearing down on everyone's mind. "Silver?" he piped up, "What's with the note in your hand?" 'Finally. I thought no one would ever ask.' Silver thought. He explained to the group about the note. He said that he came back from his future to visit Blaze – who had also come back – to see what she was up to. While walking on the shore of the Emerald Hill Zone, he found a piece of crumpled paper lying in the sand. "Huh? What's that?" Silver said (in the memory), and picked it up. The piece of paper foretells 'of a mystical Emerald… more powerful than all Chaos Emeralds seven… stronger than the Master Emerald.' "What could it mean?" Silver asked himself. "I better tell Sonic about this and see if he knows anything."

"… And that's how I got here" Silver finished.

"What's the Ultimate Emerald?" asked Chaos, out of turn, "I've lived for thousands of years and I've never heard anything of this 'mystical' Emerald before!" "Beats me" said Knuckles, "but we better go look for it in case it has anything to do with Eggman." 'Ultimate Emerald, huh?' thought Shadow. 'Hmm…'

"Any other clues about the Ultimate Emerald then, Silver?" enquired Sonic. "Nope. None yet" replied Silver. "What do you suppose we do know?" "We go look for it!" Tails spoke up. "Good idea, Tails!" Sonic said, cheerfully, "Let's go!" "But where?" Chaos interjected, forcefully, "the only thing we know about the Ultimate Emerald is what it is. What good's that; I ask you?!" "That's a good point" Shadow said. "If we don't know where it is, how are we supposed to find it?" "Well. It's our lucky day!" Knuckles proudly boasted. "Fortunately, I have an Emerald Detector on me!" "Emerald Detector, huh?" Shadow enquired, "where did you get it?" "When Eggman stole the Master Emerald, I managed to sneak out his Emerald Detector that was in his Eggmobile." "Now that we have a way to find the Ultimate Emerald, we can now search for it." said Silver, excited at this prospect. "Yeh, let's do it!" said Chaos, also excited. All the others murmured optimistic comments.

"Hey Knuckles. Can you pass me the Emerald Detector? I'm gonna find out the co-ordinates of its position so we can find it." said Tails "Yeh, sure" Knuckles replied. He handed the Emerald Detector over to Tails so he could perform his task. When he had done this, he handed the Detector back to Knuckles, and said "The Ultimate Emerald appears to be in a shrine – about 500km (311 miles) – away from here, on the other side of the planet." "You expect us to travel all the way to there just for some stupid Emerald!" Shadow burst out, sounding annoyed.

"Uhh… yeh (!)" Sonic said, sarcastically. "If we don't, we'll all be dead!" "Can we stop arguing and get on with it!" Silver interrupted. "If Eggman gets the Ultimate Emerald, this will affect my future as well. Who knows what it'll do?" "Alright! Let's just shut up and get in the Tornado!" Tails said, angrily – frustrated at all the quarrelling. So, everyone clambered in the Tornado and set off.

After about 200km, there were some strong side winds – creating the effects of turbulence. Everyone was shook side-to-side. At about the third side wind, due to the ferocity of it, Silver's left back quill dug into Shadow; whose right shoe dug into Sonic; who fell onto Knuckles; whose knuckles, on his left hand, pierced into Chaos' torso; who tumbled on Tails. (_Author note: Quite a painful experience for all_!) A number of ouch's and argh's ensued. "All right! Whose fault was that?!" Shadow asked, angrily (_typical_!). "It was no-one's fault! Alright!" retorted Tails, after he got back in his seat. "It was just a strong side wind. There was nothing we could do about it. Now siddown!" Shadow tutted, irritably, shaking his head.

Two hours had passed and they were now only 30km away. Everyone was pretty board, although they did play Sonic Monopoly for about 40 minutes – before Shadow conned Knuckles out of the Master Emerald for Star Light Zone and two houses on Angel Island – when everyone got annoyed and fed up.

"Hang on guys, we're almost there!" Tails announced. There was a blinking emerald shaped light on the Tornado's radar, indicating just that.

As the minutes whiled away, the shape got bigger. Then, on the horizon, they saw, what appeared to be, a larger version of the Master Emerald's shrine.

"What's that?" Chaos asked. "It looks like the shrine of the Master Emerald, only larger. It's vast!" Knuckles replied, staring in awe. "That must be where the Ultimate Emerald is" Silver said, "the Ultimate Shrine." "Wow. It's so gigantic. And I though Knuckles' ego was big!" "Why you…" retorted Knuckles. "Alright, cool it guys" said Tails. "I'm about to land. You can have your _little_ fight outside!" he snickered. 'This ought to be good' thought Shadow.

When Tails landed the Tornado III, Sonic and Knuckles were the first to step out – ready for their fight. Knuckles' anger was prevalent in his eyes, while Sonic was calm and contempt. "You ready to lose, Sonic?" "I know _you_ will!" replied Sonic. Their fight took place near the Tornado, on a patch of dry clay. They were about to start when a small dust storm flew in. "I can't fight in this!" said Knuckles, angry at the fact that he couldn't knock the 'living daylights' out of Sonic. "Me neither" Sonic replied. "Let's leave it 'til later, OK?" "Yeh, alright" said Knuckles, gloomy. The dust storm left and everyone was staring at the Ultimate Shrine. There was nothing to say. Just the fact of the sheer size of the Shrine spoke more than words.

With no-one doing anything, Silver decided to walk towards the Ultimate Shrine first. He was closely followed by Tails, then Sonic and Knuckles, next was Chaos, and finally Shadow. They all went inside.


End file.
